SAMANTHA CRAIN
9 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.
Spritely folk singer Samantha Crain just released (re-released, really) her five-song debut EP on Ramseur Records, the North Carolina label that’s the home, notably, of the Avett Brothers. Except the album isn’t an EP; it’s a “musical novella.” Crain, a 21-year-old Oklahoma native, casually drops references to Keats and his Negative Capability theory in interviews. She talks about “grotesque realism” in Southern gothic literature, how it’s “so-real-it’s-unreal.” It’s fair to say that she has some literary aspirations. But before you dismiss all the high-mindedness, take a listen to Crain’s voice, which is tremulous, bright and whimsical — affecting enough to imagine a time when Crain will outgrow ven-ues like White Water. This is a show worth catching.